Sock anchors are known for repairing, by reinforcement, masonry, concrete and brick structures.
Typically, sock anchors are made of a rigid bar or rod, which is covered in a fabric sock. The sock anchor is inserted into an elongated cavity in the building or structure for repair or reinforcement. The cross-sectional dimension of the cavity is larger than the cross-sectional dimension of the sock anchor unit, such that the cavity can be filled with cementitious material which embeds the sock anchor in the cavity to reinforce the structure in which the cavity is created. The cavity is typically created in an area of damage, weakness or subsidence in a structure such that the sock anchor unit can be embedded within the structure to repair and reinforce the damaged area. Sock anchors can often be used such that full demolition and rebuild of a part of a structure can be avoided.
A sock anchor device operates by inserting the anchor system into a cavity before injecting the anchor device with cementitious grout. The cementitious grout is typically pumped into the anchor via a plastic tube such that the volume occupied by the sock is filled to expand the sock to fill the cavity surrounding the rigid bar or rod. The sock material is flexible and porous such that the sock deforms to the shape and form of the cavity to provide mechanical and chemical bonding of the anchor device to the internal surface of the cavity. The sock material typically acts to contain the cement to avoid seepage of the cement into small cracks extending from the cavity surface into the structure because such seepage may result in crack propagation and failure of the structure surrounding the anchor.